Thank you, I'll be here all year. Try the veal!

August 27, 2006

When the Penn High School Marching Kingsmen started practicing a few weeks ago, new superintendent Jerry Thacker was watching. Thacker praised the work ethic band members showed during long, hot days of standing in the school parking lot. "In fact, if you have your own children go stand on the blacktop that long, you will be under arrest," Thacker said. Thacker got chuckles for more than a few comments he made during his remarks at the employee breakfast at Penn High School, not bad for early on a Monday morning. What else got a reaction? On running into former students from his days teaching at Madison and Mary Frank elementary schools in the 1970s: "The thing I've noticed, many of you are taller." On Penn-Harris-Madison Teachers Association President Dave Misener: "Dave Misener has a great tenure here. I believe he was president when I left." On buying a house in River Pointe Estates: "We are officially residents of our school district. We have a Mishawaka address, but please don't get confused." On employees spreading positive news about the school district: "Above all, tell everyone you know that you love your superintendent." What are you taxpayers paying your employees? Indiana University men's basketball coach Kelvin Sampson is the state's highest paid public employee. Sampson has a total salary of $1.1 million. The coach has a base salary of $500,000 and is guaranteed $600,000 in supplemental income this season. That's one finding in a recent Indianapolis Star special report detailing the salaries of Indiana state employees. The newspaper created a database listing state workers and public university employees, including Indiana University and its regional campuses, Purdue University, Ball State University, Indiana State University and the University of Southern Indiana. (Ivy Tech Community College employees are not included.) Martin Jischke, president of Purdue University, makes $480,950 a year. He's the highest paid state employee, excluding athletic coaches. In general, the newspaper found that Indiana employees earn less than their counterparts in other Midwestern states. Gov. Mitch Daniels earns $95,000 a year. That's a bargain rate compared to other states. Michigan pays its governor $177,000; Illinois, $154,100; Kentucky, $130,705; and Ohio, $130,291. In Indiana, 2,438 state government and university employees make more. A salary comparison for the 2005-06 school year, the most recent data available, shows that IU professors' salaries ranked ninth among the Big Ten's public universities. Associate professors and assistant professors ranked ninth and eighth, respectively. To read the report and search the data base, see: www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID/20060820/NEWS02/60820002 Who is the lowest paid state employee? John L. Kundert-Gibbs, a summer theater faculty member at Indiana State University, who earned a very economical $200 in total pay. Who says you can't go home? An RV visit to town on Wednesday was designed to draw attention to a national issue -- the proliferation of earmark funding requests approved by Congress. But the event had two local connections. The activists from the Americans for Prosperity Foundation rolled into town in a Sunseeker recreational vehicle, made by Elkhart County-based Forest River RV. Foundation members have been driving the vehicle cross country since spring. The stop in South Bend was a homecoming for Annie Patnaude, the group's press secretary. Patnaude is a native of LaPorte and graduated in 2003 from Indiana University South Bend. Can you use your cell when you're in a cell? A judge detained and questioned a row of spectators when a cell phone rang for a third time in her courtroom, later ordering two people to serve community service for contempt of court. When no one admitted having the ringing phones Wednesday, Lake County Criminal Court Judge Diane Boswell told all five people in the row to sit in chairs reserved for jail inmates. They stayed there for more than an hour until the morning court call ended. Boswell found three people in contempt of court because they initially refused to say who had the ringing phones. Cynthia Cannon of Gary agreed to pay a $100 fine after admitting that her phone was one of those that went off. The judge initially ordered her to do community service, but Cannon declined, saying she can't work or sit for long periods of time due to a disability. Verdell Berry Jr., of Merrillville, said he had two phones. One was off, the other he turned off when Boswell warned the gallery about the phones. The sound of it powering down is what she heard, Berry said. He admitted he didn't speak up to explain that when Boswell first asked. Shonique Freeman, of Gary, said she knew it was Berry's phone, but she didn't offer the information, either. Boswell ordered both Berry and Freeman to serve 40 hours of community service. "The next time you come to court, don't bring your cell phone," Boswell said. "And when the court asks a question, answer the question." School daze Last week, Quibbles asked readers to visit the Web sites of area school corporations and e-mail in their thoughts about which site was the best. The list included all the school corporations in St. Joseph County, and it also included St. Joseph's High School in South Bend and Marian High School in Mishawaka. One alert reader wondered why Trinity School at Greenlawn was not included. The local school shares a Web site with affiliated schools in Falls Church, Va., and Bloomington, Minn. That got Quibbles thinking, "Shouldn't we have included all the private high schools if we included some?" So here's a revised list with all the Web sites we could find for school corporations or high schools in St. Joseph County. Check them out and send your thoughts to chavens@sbtinfo.com and we'll share the results in a few weeks. Community Baptists Christian School: www.communitybaptist.com Granger Christian School: www.grangerchristian.org John Glenn Schools: www.jgsc.k12.in.us Marian High School: www.marianhs.org New Prairie United Schools: www.npusc.k12.in.us Penn-Harris-Madison Schools: www.phm.k12.in.us School City of Mishawaka: www.mishawaka.k12.in.us South Bend Community Schools: www.sbcsc.k12.in.us St. Joseph's High School: www.stjoe.k12.in.us Trinity Schools: www.trinityschools.org Union-North United Schools: www.unorth.k12.in.usBy Tribune staff writers Erin Miller, Margaret Fosmoe, Cory Havens and The Associated Press